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Ward's Grandmother Leanna

 Ward's grandmother, Leanna, suffered enormous tragedy in her young family's life. Her husband went down on a ship in the Atlantic during WWII, never to be seen again, and a few months later, her 7-year-old son died from a playground accident. I can't even imagine what she went through.

She told me once that as she was trying to cope with these devastating events, a doctor told her she needed to do something for herself. She needed to buy herself something frivolous that she didn't need. She took his advice, and it helped. Over the years, she kept up the tradition and made sure to get herself something that wasn't absolutely necessary each year. She applied that same philosophy to the gifts she gave.

So, when she gave me $200 for Christmas one year, I was instructed to buy something that I wouldn't normally buy but would enjoy. I was at a loss about what to do, since I wasn't a big shopper and tended to shop pragmatically when I did. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to get myself a bread machine. This was over 30 years ago, and bread machines were relatively new. Having a machine produce freshly baked bread sounded like a guilty pleasure, indeed. (And yes, back then, they were new enough that they did cost $200).

Our Panasonic Bread Machine still works like new.

We have used the bread machine on and off over the years, but until recently, we hadn't used it for a long time. Last week, I had a hankering for fresh bread, so I tried making a loaf. I forgot to add the salt, so it wasn't very good. I tried again. This time, I made sure to add the salt. It was okay, but like the first loaf, it didn't rise much. The yeast was new, so I looked at the bread flour I was using, and it expired in 2021. Maybe that was the culprit. It doesn't seem like flour should get old, but I guess it does.

One more time, I tried making a loaf of bread with fresh King Arthur bread flour and fresh yeast. Bingo! We got a delicious loaf of bread.  Ward and I promptly had several slices of it, buttered. Delicious!

Success!

Now that I finally have the basics in place again, I think it's time to experiment with different kinds I remember making a long time ago. We're usually not big bread eaters, but the newfound interest in the bread machine may change that.

Thank you, Leanna, for making me get something that I would never have gotten without your encouragement. And for something that we are still enjoying all of these many years later.

Until next time...

Pictures

Here are a few pictures of what's been happening at my house lately.

Until a few days ago, our backyard looked like this. This was 3 weeks after our snow and ice storm. In this area, we're not used to snow sticking around for that long.

That may be why I made this impulse buy at Costco. The $10 doormat was speaking to me. It reminded me that spring is coming.

In the meantime, my Christmas/Thanksgiving/Easter* cactus started to bloom after a year of dormancy. That sated my need for flowers for the time being. 
*Distinctions without a difference in my book.

And what better winter activity is there than knitting? Here's another felted purse I made. This one had a lot of improvising as I used up the ends of yarn. I used every last bit I had of these colors. I still may add a magnetic clasp and a decorative button. However, it may be felted too tightly to add the magnetic clasp. 

Last night, Ward went into the store for milk and came out with milk and roses. They were on sale since it was after Valentine's Day. That was a nice surprise.

And yesterday, it rained all day and melted much of the snow. Now, our backyard looks like this. We still had to use the digging bar to break up the ice and snow on our front walk, but it is now cleared off. Yay!

Until next time...

Happy Valentine's Day

 We have no special traditions or expectations for Valentine's Day here. Some years, we go out to dinner. Sometimes, there are flowers or a card, and sometimes, the day passes without much notice. This will be one of those years. We agreed that we weren't going to do anything to celebrate this year, because we've been too distracted by other things. So today, the plan is a doctor's appointment, laundry, and swing dance practice. 

However, this morning, I am remembering Valentine's Days when Wally and Theo were young. Oh, how I hated the valentines that they had to hand out at school. Neither of them had good fine motor skills, and preparing Valentines for their class was torture for both them and me. However, we all survived. 

I am also remembering Wally's third-grade Valentine's Day party at school. It was an interesting afternoon as I watched the girls and boys behave very differently. I've shared this story here before, but I'm going to do it again below. In the meantime, I hope you have a good day today, whether it is filled with hearts and chocolates or laundry. 😀

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Boys vs. Girls—You Choose 

 Before I had kids, I thought that each child was an individual, and I didn't believe much in gender stereotypes in children. Little boys ran and jumped a lot because that's the kind of games they were taught. Little girls played with dolls because that was the kind of toys they were given. I thought that if all kids, regardless of gender, were exposed to the same things, they would have the same tendencies. Then I spent some time in the real world of kids and figured out that I was wrong. Possibly, there were some differences between boys and girls. From time to time, I'm going to share some of my experiences that led me to this conclusion. However, so as not to bias you, I'm going to let you guess who the boys are in the stories and who the girls are.

 Today's Story 

The Event: Wally's Third Grade Valentine Party

The Scene: The kids were seated around tables and naturally grouped themselves into two groups, with all boys on one side and all girls on the other side.

The Action: One group was carefully reading each Valentine and talking about who liked whom. The other group was seeing how many Red Hot cinnamon candies they could stuff in their mouth before their mouth burned too much. 

You choose: Which group was the boys and which was the girls?

Until next time...

Long Time, No Blog

 I am determined to check in before another day goes by. There's been a lot of something and a lot of nothing going on here.

Bluebirds are making a daily appearance at our feeder now. (Two males)

First was the big snow and ice storm. We spent time preparing beforehand, and luckily didn't have to deal with the worst-case scenarios we had prepared for. However, the snow and ice, coupled with frigid temperatures, made going out treacherous. The main roads are clear now, but still have narrowing from snow pileups on the sides. Our walks are not clear. It takes a heavy digging bar to break through the ice on top, so they may stay covered for a while.

A female bluebird on the flower box.

In the meantime, my father-in-law had to go to the hospital. The neighbors did heroic feats to clear enough snow and ice to get into the house and clear a path for the emergency responders. A firetruck actually came before the ambulance to clear snow so it could get down the unplowed street. The good news is that after a week in the hospital, he is home and improving. Now, there is a whirlwind of activity getting services in place, going to doctor appointments, etc. A million details are being worked out, but the process is not conducive to a calm mind and restful sleep.

I find that when there is downtime, I want to do nothing. And what that looks like is a little reading, knitting, and video watching. Forward progress on other things will just have to wait for a little while until things settle down. 

Until next time...

COLD, too.

 

We recently joined most of the US with snow, ice, and frigid temperatures. On Sunday, we got 10" of snow with another 1/2" of ice on top. And to lock it all in, temperatures are staying below freezing, with temperatures mainly in the teens and single digits. 

However, yesterday we had sunshine and a warm spell, when it made it into the 20s. The sun did its magic and melted areas that had been cleared. I think. I haven't been past our driveway since Friday. But we have a path down the middle, so we can get a car out. The snowblower worked for a short while until it decided that it had had enough of the heavy, icy cover and quit. And has not worked since. We've only used it a couple of times, so I hope we didn't totally burn out the motor. 

However, the good news is that we still have electricity and heat. We had prepared for outages, but we were lucky not to have any. So we've had some proper snow days with nothing to do but stay inside and read, work puzzles, and knit. Yes, of course, there were plenty of things to do besides leisure activities, but what fun would that be?

One of the three puzzles Ward has worked recently. This one was fun to look at but difficult to work.

I made a two-sided felted bag. Pink on one side...

and black on the other. 

Also, I find I still check the workline to see if I have to go into work. I've been retired for almost a year, but old habits die hard. Does anyone else do that?

It's been several hours since I started this post, and in the meantime, I ventured into the outside world, going to a Zumba class at the gym. While there were still icy spots, the roads were mostly dry. The thawing and refreezing at night hasn't begun yet, but when it does, there will be more ice, especially black ice, to deal with. But such is winter.

How are things in your neck of the woods?

Until next time...